Gingerbread Swirls

I needed an easy holiday cookie that was sure to impress for my work team holiday potluck. I found this recipe for gingerbread swirl cookies on MyRecipes.com and it looked like something fun to try. I am a bit of a rookie when it comes to swirls so they were not the most super attractive, but they tasted yummy none the less.
Gingerbread pinwheels

Ingredients

For gingerbread dough:
3/4 cup (3/8 lb.) butter, at room temperature
3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/4 cup light or dark molasses
2 large egg yolks
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

For plain dough:
1 cup (1/2 lb.) butter, at room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. To make gingerbread dough: In a bowl, with an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter, brown sugar, and molasses until smooth. Beat in egg yolks until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. In another bowl, mix flour, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, baking soda, and salt. With mixer on low speed, beat flour mixture into butter mixture until well blended. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and flatten slightly; chill until firm but pliable, about 1 hour (or freeze for 30 minutes).

To make plain dough: In a bowl, with an electric mixer on high speed, beat butter and granulated sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla until well blended, scraping down sides of bowl as needed. In another bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt. With mixer on low speed, beat flour mixture into butter mixture until well blended. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and flatten slightly; chill as directed above.

2. Unwrap dough. With a lightly floured rolling pin, on a lightly floured sheet of waxed paper, roll out gingerbread dough into a 12- by 15-inch rectangle. Slide dough, on waxed paper, onto a 12- by 15-inch baking sheet. Repeat to roll out plain dough; chill both rectangles until firm to the touch but still pliable, about 10 minutes.

3. Carefully invert the gingerbread dough over the plain dough, lining up edges as evenly as possible. Remove waxed paper from top of gingerbread dough. With a sharp knife, cut rectangle in half lengthwise to make two 6- by 15-inch rectangles. Transfer one of the rectangles to another sheet of waxed paper.

4. Starting at long edge of one rectangle, lift waxed paper to roll doughs into a tight, even cylinder (if dough cracks instead of rolling easily, let stand about 10 minutes to soften slightly). Repeat to roll other rectangle. Wrap rolls in plastic wrap and freeze until firm, about 30 minutes.

5. Unwrap rolls and slice crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds. Lay cookies flat, 1 inch apart, on buttered or cooking parchment-lined 12- by 15-inch baking sheets.

6. Bake cookies in a 325° oven until edges just begin to brown, 15 to 20 minutes; if baking more than one pan at a time, switch pan positions halfway through baking. With a wide spatula, transfer pinwheels to racks to cool completely.

Note: Nutritional analysis is per cookie.

Makes about 50 cookies

CALORIES 145(44% from fat); FAT 7.1g (sat 4.3g); PROTEIN 1.7g; CHOLESTEROL 31mg; SODIUM 120mg; FIBER 0.4g; CARBOHYDRATE 19g

Sunset, NOVEMBER 2003